Week 6 at Ferris State

What an eventful week it's been here at Ferris! These last few weeks are surely going to fly by.

While Monday and Tuesday I spent time as the "A.M. Manager" (which I surprisingly liked a lot better than getting to sleep in to be the P.M. Manager), Wednesday we took a field trip to Michigan State University. Margaret, Brenda, Tom O. (one of the Assistant Managers), and I ventured on our 2 hour road trip to see where the other NACUFS interns have been spending their time this summer!

The campus is in East Lansing, MI and is SO much bigger and more spread out than Ferris. We first got to speak with one of the culinary coordinators, Larry, who explained what the dining venues as MSU are all about. I was extremely impressed with what he had to say. Apparently MSU makes almost ALL of their food from scratch; that is everything from their peanut butter to their breads and pastas. I found this extraordinary considering the mass quantities of people they are cooking for. They also make an effort to buy all their produce and meats/fish as locally as possible. MSU is also making huge strides to reduce their environmental impact by implementing "green" practices such as using a pulper, which recycles dish machine water. Overall, I was very impressed by how nutritionally and environmentally progressive this campus seemed to be! 

We toured MSU's football and basketball arena, both of which are big sports on campus. We learned that Magic Johnson played for the Spartans back when Brenda went to school here!

an enormous statue to commemorate Magic Johnson

Fellow NACUFS interns Jeanette and Megan!

We ate at Brody dining hall for lunch and it was deeeelicious! I've never seen a bigger dining facility in my life. They had so many options and everything was really fresh tasting.

We also stopped by MSU's campus creamery where they make their own ice cream and cheese. Brenda was nice enough to buy Margaret and me some chocolate cheese to try! 

an interesting combination to say the least

making cheese!

What a wonderful experience it was to get to visit MSU and see what the other interns have been up to!

This weekend was very special for me because my mom made a trip all the way from Connecticut to visit me! It was so nice seeing a familiar face and getting to show her where I've been living the past 6 weeks.

Friday we made a trip to the 4-H fair in Big Rapids to check out some of the cute animals!

 Saturday was our big excursion up to Mackinaw Island! The 3 hour drive plus 20 minute ferry ride was all worth it when we saw how beautiful the island is. Biking the perimeter of the island was probably my favorite part; it was so breath-taking and relaxing!

girl's day

the famous 5-mile long Mackinaw Bridge!

Sunday my mom and I spent some time in Holland, checking out the beaches and the downtown area. It was such a cute town!

Holland has their own brewing company!

I'm glad I got to show my mom a little piece of what life is like out here in Michigan. I'm so grateful she was able to visit me!